and i had begun to be a woman again
a real woman
with real hands
and real eyes fixed on real nothingness
and along came a name
as real as a pair of socks
as real as a scab
as real as a walk
through a very real park
and so i became less of a woman
the snake rose from the ashes
a snake as real as a bird as real as a woman
who is no longer a woman
or a snake
or a bird
and so i became as real as hunger